Japan envoy pays tribute to lives lost in battle

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Japanese ambassador to Solomon Islands, His Excellency Shigera Toyama pays tribute by laying a wreath at 'Bloody Ridge'.

THE Japanese ambassador to Solomon Islands, His Excellency Shigera Toyama has paid tribute to the lives lost during the battle of Guadalcanal.

Mr Toyama made the condolence remarks when celebrating the 1st anniversary of the bloody ridge in east of Honiara.

“On behalf of the people and government of Japan I would like to sincerely offer, with profound respect my eternal condolences to the souls on both sides who dedicated their lives to their families and homeland, as well as to the souls of innocent people who became victims during the Guadalcanal Campaign,” he said.

He said this year marks the 76th anniversary of Guadalcanal battle on which during the campaign more than 30,000 Japanese soldiers were dispatched to Guadalcanal.

“During the campaign, more than 30,000 Japanese soldiers were dispatched to Guadalcanal and 22,000 people were killed in this area, while the allied forces side, more than 7,000 US Military personnel lost their lives through the campaign,

“In closing my eyes, I feel an acute sense of sorrow and grief for them and I reflected upon the lost dreams and lost future of those young Americans, Japanese and other nationals who dedicated their lives to their families and home countries,” he added.

He said since the end of the war they have recovered more than 15,000 Japanese remains whilst some are yet to be retrieved.

“However, more than 7,000 pillars of the remains are still left deep inside the tropical forest waiting for return to their home country Japan.

“Now I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude for the kind support rendered from the Solomon Islands authorities and all related personnel toward this project and I ask for your continued support in the future as well,” he said.

Mr Toyama added he was glad to hear that the project of recovering the US servicemen has been under way by US related agencies.

“I hope that both Japan and US could coordinate with each other in order to speed up the project in a more effective way,” he said.